


Time Is Never On Our Side

by dreamsofdramione



Series: Fairest of the Rare's LoveFest 2020 [3]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Curses, F/M, Time Travel, Vignette
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-22
Updated: 2020-02-22
Packaged: 2021-02-28 10:53:53
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,281
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22848964
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamsofdramione/pseuds/dreamsofdramione
Summary: It was cruel, really, for her to have the power to manipulate a thing such as time but fall for someone who had so little of it.#TeamAphrodite #LF2020
Relationships: Hermione Granger/Teddy Lupin
Series: Fairest of the Rare's LoveFest 2020 [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1642516
Comments: 13
Kudos: 33
Collections: Love Fest 2020





	Time Is Never On Our Side

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Frumpologist](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Frumpologist/gifts).



> Written for the Fariest of the Rare's LoveFest 2020  
> #TeamAphrodite #LF2020
> 
> Prompt: Teddy Lupin x Hermione Granger + Time Travel

Gift Graphic by [@In_Dreams](https://archiveofourown.org/users/in_dreams/pseuds/in_dreams)

* * *

As always, the dizziness dissipated into nothing more than a lingering tingle as Hermione righted herself and adjusted to the picture before her. No matter how many times she’d used the Time-Turner, the transition never grew any more bearable.

Just as before, she had one goal in mind. Regardless of time or place, she knew just what she was looking for. A charmed coin warmed her palm and she smiled when the familiar scrawl appeared across the surface. One of the many holdovers from her time as a child at war, Hermione had found a new use for one of her forced adaptations during darker days. 

_Home 9 PM_

Being an Unspeakable was a lonely life. Unable to divulge even a fraction of her daily frustrations with anyone in her every day life left Hermione feeling isolated as she had settled into her position years earlier. Unlike any other department, she wasn’t beholden to hours or schedules. Her days weren’t filled with meetings or reports. Beyond the occasional check-in with her superior, Hermione was largely left on her own to study the magic that was traveling through time. On the precipice of change, of falling down the rabbit hole of what she was sure would become her entire life’s work, she chose to follow her insatiable curiosity and became a nomad of sorts. But with years of experience hopping and skipping through various eras, she’d learned a thing or two about the meaning of the word _home._

While most people thought of time as a sort of linear equation, Hermione now knew it held infinite planes of existence with various versions of any scenario. She’d seen herself a time or two, which was odd by all accounts, but largely, she’d kept to the outskirts and collected nothing more than information and the occasional momento.

The house, though, that was by far her longest-lasting impact. The house before her had seen better days. Moss covered the tiles of the roof she'd installed herself more than two centuries before, and the garden out front—currently barely anything beyond sticks—had once been a sight to see. Time, in its infinite loop, had worn and weathered the house down. It looked like little more than a shabby cabin, but she’d brought it back to its former glory countless times before, and she was determined to do it again.

Twigs snapped beneath her boots with each step and the forest surrounding her home was silent save for the occasional melancholic song of a mourning dove undeterred by the wards. 

No matter the date, this house was her home. 

Beyond the weathered stone walls, _he_ was her home.

* * *

Travelling through time was a science and only four simple turns took her here. While days crawled by in the present, here time seemed to be swept away in a frenzy. Hours in his arms felt like mere minutes.

“How long do you have this time?” Soft lips brushed her hairline and Hermione hummed as Teddy pulled her into the planes of his chest. She wasn’t ready to answer yet, opting to trace a smooth expanse of skin with her fingertip and soak in every second. “That can’t be good.” His laugh held no mirth and she pressed her eyes shut, listening to the steady thump of his heart. 

It was cruel, really, for her to have the power to manipulate a thing such as time but fall for someone who had so little of it.

“I have a few days before I have to go.” Her words hung between them for a moment before she pressed her lips to his chest. Leaning back, she took in his ever-changing locks which were turquoise at the moment, bringing out the brilliant vibrancy of his eyes. 

“Better than last time. And how long will you be gone?”

Tucking a stray curl behind her ear, she willed the words to slip from her lips. “A few months, at most. If I can find the information before—”

He silenced her with his lips, pouring his reverence into the motion of his mouth, and she sighed in relief. Words were hardly necessary anymore for her to understand him. He never wanted to talk about it and she felt the same. It was this looming presence that hung over their heads every time they met. Whether they had days or months or on the rare occasion, years, time was still a finite resource and they were both all too aware of its dwindling nature.

At least this time the curse took him further back. His lips were still pink and no grey dotted his vibrant locks. They’d been playing this game for what felt like forever, jumping back just a little bit more to buy them both a morsel more time to search for a cure. 

“I’ll fix it. Soon.” Kissing his now sweat-slicked chest, Hermione tangled their legs together. 

“I know you will, love.”

It was times like these, when their pulses danced in time with one another, and their breaths came in synchronized bursts that she felt the closest to the man she’d met all those years ago.

* * *

He looked younger this time. Even younger than the first time they crossed paths back on her very first mission. His hair was longer and he’d lost about an inch. She knew her own hair had gained a few specks of grey in pursuit of the cure she’d now spent nearly half her life looking for. 

But even as she aged, and he found spaces in time where he could buy just a few more days, the pressure of his lips still felt the same. 

“We’re getting closer. I found an old library in a wizarding settlement in India with a book on curses no one has ever heard of before. I read about one, in particular, that was designed to send the victim into a time—”

His forehead pressed against her own as his breath ghosted over her lips. “Not tonight, love.” 

* * *

Where there’d been grime caked up in corners, the baseboards were now squeaky clean. The years of wear were washed away this time around, and she knew their time was shorter than ever before. 

Where she needed magic to find him in each of his new lives, he needed nothing more than to return to the home she’d made for him so long ago. Days mixed with nights and time was but a construct as Hermione let her life slide by in clips of past times spent with him.

“How was—”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” Her chin wobbled and a fresh wave of tears threatened to spill from her lids as he pulled her into his arms. 

“Shhh… We don’t have to.”

* * *

Instead of grey and thinning, as her hair had been just a few moments before, it felt lush and full of life. Her magic was muted and the steady thrum of simply existing was nothing more than an echo of what it had once been. 

Landing in the cottage for the last time, she noticed things that’d never even registered before. Muggle electricity hummed, lights were painfully bright, and her sense of smell was all but a lost memory. 

“You’re home.” Teddy sounded relieved and she was hard-pressed not to feel the same.

“Home. That sounds nice.” Her weary bones could finally rest. She would no longer be able to leave the property and depending on one’s definition of living, she might not be able to do even that. But she was here and so was he and everything else ceased to exist.

“It is. And now you can finally stay.”

**Author's Note:**

> Huge thanks to my lovely alpha [@msmerlin](https://archiveofourown.org/users/msmerlin/pseuds/msmerlin) who powered through my drivel to make it a little easier for all of you to read. Thank you [@nucklearnik](https://archiveofourown.org/users/nuclearnik/pseuds/nuclearnik) for being an amazing last minute beta when my muse decided to be fickle.
> 
> Come find me on tumblr [@dreamsofdramione](https://dreamsofdramione.tumblr.com)!
> 
> THANK YOU ALL for reading! Comments & kudos **always appreciated!**


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